Strange Bedfellows  The Wedding
by Mark C
Summary: While in Las Vegas, Rick and Kate get married.  A companion to Strange Bedfellows.


**Disclaimer:** The characters within this work are owned by Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC Studios.

**Summary:** While in Las Vegas, Rick and Kate get married. A companion to Strange Bedfellows.

**AN:** First I would like to thank _Ariel119_ for her extremely quick betaing skills. Set in the same period of _Strange Bedfellows_, for obvious reasons. If you haven't read that story, I suggest you do so before you start this one. Also, Castle and Beckett may appear out of character here which will be made clear as this one-shot moves along. I used a minister to perform the wedding and if that is not accurate, forgive me.

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><p>Detective Kate Beckett and author Rick Castle had come to Las Vegas to retrieve a witness. Knowing that they would have to spend the night in Vegas before they were able to bring their man back to New York, they had decided to have some fun in <em>Mirage's<em> casino. For the next few hours, the pair enjoyed playing some poker while also consuming fair sized amounts of alcohol.

"So, what do you wan… want to do now, Detective?" Castle slurred as they exited the casino side by side.

"I don't know," came Beckett's reply as she swayed a bit and bumped shoulders with Castle. "You've been here before, oh well-traveled mystery writer, you should be able to come up with something that can keep us entertained."

"There is one thing that we can do and not have to leave the privacy of our room." Castle waggled his eyebrows up and down at his suggestion.

In a sultry voice, Beckett said as she ran her hand up and down his chest, "Maybe we can save that for later, lover boy."

"Alright, but that still leaves us right back to where we are with nothing to do."

They found someplace to sit and plopped themselves down to think of something they could do.

A light bulb suddenly went off in Beckett's head. "Castle, why don't we get married?"

Castle was stunned at his partner's suggestion. He knew that he was attracted to the beautiful detective. If he stopped kidding himself, Rick knew that he was in love with her and had been for a very long time now. With a proposal like that, how could he refuse?

"Sounds like a good idea to me. Kate Beckett, I will marry you."

They sealed the proposal with a searing, passionate kiss.

"I love you," Castle said once they broke apart.

"And I love you too, Rick," Kate returned as she surprised herself with what she had just spoken but felt that it was right.

"I… I never thought you felt that way."

"Well, now you do, handsome. Since we've decided to get married, I think we better get started on making arrangements to do so."

Nodding his head in agreement, he got up and offered his hand for Kate to help her up. They staggered over to the nearest phone and started looking for a wedding chapel to hold their impromptu wedding.

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><p>It took the duo about a half hour to decide on where to have the wedding and they decided to have it at the <em>Chapel of the Bells<em>. Now that they had found the place, the next thing Rick and Kate had to decide on was the wedding package they would use there. Just being the two of them, they decided on something relatively simple.

The one that caught their eye was the first Deluxe Wedding Package. That package included the following: the use of the chapel, background music, candlelight, executive car transportation from your hotel to the Marriage Bureau for the marriage license then to the chapel and back to your hotel, a fresh carnation bouquet, Groom's boutonniere and a personalized DVD recording of the ceremony.

"What do you think?" Castle asked his bride-to-be thinking that the option they first looked at was a nice choice.

"I like it, let's choose that one," Kate replied, happy with the package they had looked at.

"All right, I'll set it up."

Rick made the call and suddenly a thought popped into Kate's head.

"What am I going to wear?" Kate voiced out loud.

"Everything is set, sweetheart," Rick told her as he placed a kiss on Kate's cheek. He noticed that there was a concerned look on her face so he asked, "What's the matter?"

"I don't have anything to wear. What am I going to wear for the wedding?"

"Don't worry about it, sweetie. Isn't marrying me enough?"

"Well…" Kate said with a playful smirk.

"Detective you wound me," Rick replied smirking at Kate's teasing. "It doesn't matter what you wear as long as it's you that I'm marrying."

"That was cheesy, Castle. True, but cheesy. I take it all the arrangements have been made?"

"Everything is set. They should be here any time now."

"Good, the sooner the better."

After hearing that, Rick just had to ask, "Why Kate Beckett, are you eager to have your wicked way with me?"

Kate replied with a slight smile and a simple, "Maybe."

"I guess we can't have the lady waiting, can we? Come on, we might as well wait outside to cut the waiting time down."

Rick took Kate by the hand, forgoing their appearance, and waited outside for the car to whisk them to the marriage licensing bureau. Once done there, they would be off to the chapel to get married. It appeared that luck was on their side as their car arrived just a few minutes after they had come out. The driver approached the couple, assisted them inside and took them to the first stop on their way to wedded bliss.

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><p>Their stay at the licensing bureau was not overly long as they showed the proper identification and verified that they were of legal age to be married. Next came having their names put on the license and the certificate which was taken from the ID that they gave. They were lucky that no blood test was required. Once all the criteria were met, the only thing left to do was to pay the fee for the license.<p>

"Here you go my good man," Castle told the guy that gave him the license as he handed over the sixty dollar fee, which he paid for in cash.

"Thank you. I hope you and your bride have a long and happy marriage," the man replied after the payment was made.

"Oh, I can guarantee we will," Kate answered for both of them before placing a kiss on Castle's cheek.

Exiting the bureau with marriage license in hand, their next stop would be to the _Chapel of the Bells_ for the wedding ceremony.

"Kate, are you nervous?" Rick asked once they were settled in the back of the executive car.

"No, well, maybe a little bit," Kate replied as she leaned her head on Castle's shoulder. "You?"

"Maybe a little but I believe there is something back here that can help us get over our nerves."

Castle carefully lifted Kate's head off his shoulder and motioned to the bar fridge that was in back. Pulling out a couple bottles of liqueur, he passed one over to Kate.

They both removed the tops as Castle proposed a toast, "To the lovely, Kate Beckett, whom I am very happy to call my wife."

Clinking their bottles, they took a drink.

"My turn," Kate said as she raised her bottle for a toast of her own. "To the handsome, Rick Castle, a man who I never thought would be my husband but am so happy that he will be."

Bottles clinked for a second time as they finished off the contents inside.

"Did you mean that, Kate?" Rick asked, still a little surprised at what Kate had said.

"Yes, Rick, from the bottom of my heart," answered Kate happily.

There was nothing for him to say so he drew Kate's face closer and kissed her with all the passion he could muster. For the next few minutes, they continued drinking and occasionally kissing until they reached the chapel.

Rick and Kate were no longer feeling nervous about getting married especially due to the liquid courage they had partaken in before their arrival. As they got out of the car, they swayed a little and had to hold onto each other to keep their balance.

"You ready to become, Mrs. Castle?" Rick slurred out looking deeply into Kate's sparkling eyes.

"Most definitely, handsome," Kate replied slurredly and punctuated her answer by giving Castle a pinch on the butt.

"I guess… I guess you are."

Rick took Kate's arm in his as they walked into the chapel. Walking that way made sure that neither of them would fall down on their way.

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><p>Inside the chapel, they had to wait for a little while before it was their turn to get married. This gave them time to prepare themselves for the ceremony. During that time Rick was given his boutonniere while Kate received her carnation bouquet.<p>

"They really do go all out for the ceremony, don't they," Kate said as she admired her bouquet.

"Only the best for, sweetheart," Rick told her and gave Kate a sloppy kiss that made her giggle.

Someone came out of the chapel and said, "Castle party, you're up next."

They both stood up and Kate affixed the boutonniere to the lapel of Rick's sports jacket. Next, she grabbed her bouquet and walked to the chapel entrance with her soon to be husband.

Just before entering, Rick asked, "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Kate replied with a heart warming smile.

The chapel doors opened and they entered to the sound of the _Wedding March_ as the pair walked down the aisle. They clung to each other as they approached the man who was performing the ceremony. Rick and Kate did that so that they would make it to the front with out falling down. The reason for that was one of them would stray to either the left or the right and the other would pull them back. Luckily it was not long before they were in front of the minister.

"We are gathered here today to join Richard Castle and Katherine Beckett in holy matrimony," the minister began the ceremony.

As the ceremony went on, Rick and Kate really did not pay much attention to the minister because their sole focus was on each other. The only time they would break apart was when the minister mentioned their names. When it came to the vows, they were a generic form but the pair were able to get them out with the odd slurred word. The exchange of rings was a chore for them as well. Rick and Kate had difficulty putting the rings on as misjudged where the other's ring finger was but eventually that task was completed.

With everything completed the minister finished saying, "By the power invested in me by the state of Nevada, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

Rick placed his hands on either side of Kate's face, leaned over to her and gave his bride a kiss.

When it did not last long, Kate asked, "Is that all you got, Castle?"

Before Rick could answer, Kate reclaimed Rick's lips and gave him a toe-curling kiss. In the process of the kiss, Rick lifted one of his legs off the floor.

"Now that's what I call a kiss," Kate told her husband as they finally broke apart.

"You can say that again," a dazed Rick agreed with his better half.

The last official task for Rick and Kate was the signing of the marriage license. Along with the newly married couple, a pair of people who worked at the chapel and witnessed the ceremony also signed the license as witnesses. When this task was over and they were given a DVD of the ceremony, Rick and Kate were taken back to the _Mirage_ to enjoy their first night as man and wife.

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><p>"Castle… Castle… Rick, put me down!" Kate shouted out while being carried bridal style.<p>

"This is tradition, Kate. You can't mess with tradition," Rick told Kate as he carried her over the threshold.

"You better not drop me or I will have to shoot you."

"Uh oh, I think I'm losing my grip!"

Rick began to sway every which way as Kate continued to yell at him to put her down. He made his way over to the master bedroom where he dropped his bride on and soon joined her.

"Happy now?" Rick asked a little out of breath.

"Very," replied Kate as she pulled him in for a kiss.

As the kiss continued, it became more passionate they started removing their clothes. They made it to their underwear when they both passed out from exhaustion, the alcohol they had consumed or both. The following morning should definitely be an eye opener for the newlyweds.

**The End**

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><p><strong>AN<strong>: There you have it. I hope you enjoy this story as much as the one that inspired it. Please leave a review because I like to hear what you think. No flames though.


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